point of view

point of view, viewpoint, standpoint, angle, slant denote the position or attitude that determines which aspect of an object of contemplation is seen or presented. Point of view, viewpoint, and standpoint are often interchangeable, but point of view and viewpoint can suggest either a mental or a physical position and may permit the inference that there are other ways of looking at what is considered and therefore usually suggest lack of completeness in the vision, or one-sidedness in the views expressed or presented

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great literature enables us to see with another man's eyes . . . but only when we abandon ourselves for the time to his point of view—Kilby

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the general shape of the galaxy and the point of view from which we are looking at it— B. J. Bok

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all will benefit from exposure to the fresh viewpoint which he presents— Harrison Brown

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describes his own method of photographing motor races, and gives hints on the choice of subjects and viewpoints— Kodak Abstract

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Standpoint may have connotations which tend to distinguish it from point of view and viewpoint; it is more often restricted to the mental point of view

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consider totalitarianism from the German standpoint

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and it more often connotes than definitely implies a fixed way of looking justified by one's fundamental principles or one's stock of information and not necessarily resulting in a limited understanding

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from the poet-writer's standpoint all this prevalent talk about a New Order is sheer waste of time— Forster

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my criticism of what seem to me one-sided views will be better understood if my general standpoint is known— Inge

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Angle (see also PHASE) definitely implies one-sidedness or limitations in the scope of one's vision

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every man of genius sees the world at a different angle from his fellows, and there is his tragedy. But it is usually a measurable angle— Ellis

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in the rhetorical speeches from Shake-speare which have been cited, we have ... a new clue to the character, in noting the angle from which he views himself— T. S. Eliot

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Slant stresses bias, but it may be bias derived from temperament, mental habits, or experience rather than from prejudice

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periodicals, not normally pro-Democratic in editorial slant— Cater

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no one sees anything without some personal slant—S.R.L.

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Analogous words: *position, stand, attitude